Vet-Advantage Blog

In September 2017, AAHA (The American Animal Hospital Association) introduced its updated Canine Vaccination Guidelines. If you haven’t had a chance to look through the updates, there’s a chance your customers haven’t, either.

This is the perfect time to take a look with the practices in your region! Spring is nearly here, and those disease-carrying pests are about to emerge after a long winter nap. Or if you’re in a warmer climate, the updates are relevant year-round.

The holidays are here, and then – poof – it will be time to help practices prep for a successful February National Pet Dental Health Month.

For February 2018, the big news for your customers is the release of WSAVA’s new Global Dental Guidelines, which were debuted at the 42nd World Small Animal Veterinary Association Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark in September 2017.

Veterinary practices looking to you as a resource for ordering euthanasia drugs may ask you about delayed shipping dates.

The reason is — in case you missed it — the FDA (U.S. Food & Drug Administration) reported a shortage of pentobarbital sodium with phenytoin sodium on October 17, 2017 on its website that reports Current Drug Shortages. The website simply lists “manufacturing delay” as the reason.

If you’ve been in the veterinary industry for a while, you’re probably aware that most veterinarians like to see “peer proof” of success with a new procedure, technique, device, or practice-building tactic.

Most veterinarians aren’t keen on being the first to try something new. They’re generally risk-averse and they demand proof before trying something different. Perhaps you’ve noticed this during your clinic visits.

The projected 2018 trade show season attendance numbers are staggering.

More than 17,000 veterinarians, veterinary technicians, office managers, students, and others will be at VMX; a similar number will attend Western States, and there are at least a dozen additional conferences and trade shows in the coming year.

And it’s going to be bigger than ever in 2018, in a big new space at the Orange County Convention Center. The new South Concourse location allows for a larger selection of CE (Continuing Education) Credit programs available to veterinary professionals.

Sections 179 and 168(k) depreciation options of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code can become glorious, money-saving strategies for smart veterinary practices. Here’s why.

If a practice needs to purchase new equipment — they may be able to deduct the full purchase price of qualifying equipment during the tax year in which it was placed in service if they elect to do so under Section 179… instead of deducting a portion of the purchase price over five years through standard depreciation.

Canine Influenza Virus (CIV) — in particular, the H3N2 strain that made national news during the 2015 Chicago outbreak — is making big news again. The AVMA reported that, “In May 2017, canine H3N2 influenza was diagnosed in dogs in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Louisiana, and Illinois.”

As of June 30, 2017, CIV had infected, “More than 82 dogs in Florida, killing at least four of them, and had temporarily closed both a leading Orlando shelter and an unidentified boarding facility,” according to an Orlando Sentinel news report.